1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Specifically, the invention relates to a system that integrates real-time tracking radar data with the positional data of a UAV to identify collision threats. The name used for the innovation is SAVDS (Sense-and-Avoid Display System).
2. Description of the Prior Art
UAVs must share the National Airspace System (NAS) with piloted aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in the process of defining the requirement that UAVs must either see-and-avoid or sense-and-avoid other aircraft in the NAS to insure safety for UAV operations. The problem identified by the FAA is the challenge of effectively sensing conflicting aircraft when the UAV is out of visual range of the ground-based UAV pilot. UAV operations in the NAS currently require a Certificate of Authorization from the FAA, which is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The certification process requires that ground-located UAV pilots verify that they can ensure avoidance of other air traffic in the area of operation to the satisfaction of the FAA review board. The lack of a standardized approach has previously limited low altitude UAV operations to line-of-sight activities that require dedicated sets of eyes to identify any potential airspace conflicts. This limitation has restricted most approved UAV operations to flight heights of less than 2,000 ft and distances of less than 1 mile. The prior art does not teach any ground-based system that meets the FAA-mandated sense-and-avoid requirement for low altitude UAV operations under 10,000 ft out of visual range.
In an effort to simulate the presence of a pilot in the cockpit, much of the prior art addressing the sense-and-avoid challenge has focused on trying to equip UAVs with forward-looking video feeds to represent the equivalent eyes of a pilot. Gimbaled video cameras can try to represent a pilot's perspective. However, unless the UAV is equipped with video feeds looking in all directions, such a technology is limited to sensing only those threats that are directly in the forward-looking field of view. Such a limited awareness does not adequately address the possibility of a conflict from any and all directions. The fact is that conflicts can come from any direction, most commonly from above and below.